Water is Important

Water is an essential part of getting good results. It is an easy thing that we sometimes overlook. With the fast pace environment and society we live in today, it become hard to manage everything. It is important to take care of one’s self first otherwise you will not be able to perform at you maximum level if you body and mind is not right. Therefore, taking care of one’s self and working out is an essential part that everyone should do multiple times a week. One place to start that is very simple and is sometimes overlooked is drinking water. I feel most people do not do enough is drink water. The reason I feel this way is because they may think that a cup of coffee or other beverage counts as their 7-10 glasses a day. This however is not true. The mere fact that the average person’s body according to http://www.organicnutrition.co.uk/water.htm is made up 60% to 70% of water. Water is essential to healthy living for so many reasons. 

According to http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_water.php :

• Initial weight loss is largely due to loss of water, and you need to drink an adequate amount of water in order to avoid dehydration.
• The process of burning calories requires an adequate supply of water in order to function efficiently; dehydration slows down the fat-burning process.
• Burning calories creates toxins (think of the exhaust coming out of your car), and water plays a vital role in flushing them out of your body.
• Dehydration causes a reduction in blood volume; a reduction in blood volume causes a reduction in the supply of oxygen to your muscles; and a reduction in the supply of oxygen to your muscles can make you feel tired.
• Water helps maintain muscle tone by assisting muscles in their ability to contract, and it lubricates your joints. Proper hydration can help reduce muscle and joint soreness when exercising.
• A healthy (weight loss) diet includes a good amount of fiber. But while fiber is normally helpful to your digestive system, without adequate fluids it can cause constipation instead of helping to eliminate it.
• Drinking water with a meal may make you feel full sooner and therefore satisfied eating less. Note, however, that drinking water alone may not have this effect. In order to feel satiated (not hungry), our bodies need bulk, calories and nutrients.

Pre workout meal

Yesterday I talked about what would be good after your exercise, but what you eat before your workout is also important. What you eat before will affect your performance of your workout or activity. Again I got some useful information from the sportsmedicine.com website.
First of all exercising on a full stomach is usually not ideal. I never like to workout when I feel to full and I am sure most other people do not either. Food that remains in your stomach during an event may cause stomach upset, nausea, and cramping. To make sure you have enough energy, yet reduce stomach discomfort, you should allow a meal to fully digest before the start of the event. This generally takes 1 to 4 hours, depending upon what and how much you've eaten. Everyone is a bit different, and you should experiment prior to workouts to determine what works best for you.
One thing I learned is that you can have a liquid meal if you do need to eat before you workout because your stomach digests liquids faster.
The major source of fuel for active muscles is carbohydrate which gets stored in the muscles as glycogen in the days before exercise. Because glucose is the preferred energy source for most exercise, a pre-exercise meal should include foods that are high in carbohydrates and easy to digest. This include foods such as pasta, fruits, breads, energy bars and drinks.
However in the end, it comes down to how long you are eating before your exercise for what to eat. There are different things you should eat if its 4 hours before your exercise compared to what you should eat if its only and hour before your exercise. 
If you are interested in learning more about what to eat more specifically, I would recommend checking this page out: http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/sportsnutrition/a/EatForExercise.htm 

post workout meal

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/ is a great website that gives you a lot of important information about workout out in general and then also focuses on key areas. One link I found http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/nutrition/a/aa081403.htm talks about how important the post meal workout is for ones body.It talks about how hydration after exercise is very important. It is the first nutritional priority after exercise that replaces any fluid lost during your exercise. In general drink 20-24 fl oz water for every 1 lb lost. 

Secondly, eating after exercise is very important. It is important to consume carbohydrate, such as fruit or juice) within 15 minutes post-exercise to help restore glycogen. Also carbohydrate plus protein speeds recovery. Most people may think all they have to do is eat a lot of protein, but that is not true. Carbs are necessary as well. 

Research also shows that combining protein with carbohydrate within thirty minutes of exercise nearly doubles the insulin response, which results in more stored glycogen. The optimal carbohydrate to protein ratio for this effect is 4:1 (four grams of carbohydrate for every one gram of protein). Eating more protein than that, however, has a negative impact because it slows rehydration and glycogen replenishment.

Consuming protein has other important uses after exercise. Protein provides the amino acids necessary to rebuild muscle tissue that is damaged during intense, prolonged exercise. It can also increase the absorption of water from the intestines and improve muscle hydration. The amino acids in protein can also stimulate the immune system, making you more resistant to colds and other infections.

All in all if you are looking for the best way to refuel your body after long, strenuous endurance exercise, a 4:1 combo of carbohydrate and protein seems to be your best choice. While solid foods can work just as well as a sports drink, a drink may be easier to digest make it easier to get the right ratio and meet the 30 minute window.